Global Aid for Flood Victims; US Readiness, Iran’s Denial
The United States has declared its readiness to assist Iran’s flood victims. However, officials of the Islamic Republic accuse this country of preventing aid from entering Iran. Hassan Rouhani said that preventing aid from entering Iran is “an unprecedented crime.”
Hassan Rouhani, President of Iran, without naming the United States, said that preventing international aid from entering Iran for flood victims is “an unprecedented crime.”
According to the Presidential Office’s media outlet, Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday, April 3rd, referring to the relief operations of Iran’s Red Crescent in assisting flood victims in the country, among other things stated: “That they are preventing foreign aid from entering Iran and our Red Crescent cannot receive aid sent by other countries in these difficult circumstances is an unprecedented crime.”
However, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA, Rouhani in a meeting with a group of ministers, officials, and some members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly called “the United States’ action in preventing international aid” for flood victims “an unprecedented crime.”
US “Ready to Help”
Hassan Rouhani spoke about “US action” to prevent foreign aid for flood victims while Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, had released a statement the previous day expressing sympathy with flood victims in Iran and emphasizing his country’s readiness to assist flood victims through the International Red Cross and Red Crescent. Pompeo also attributed the primary cause of severe damage from the devastating floods in Iran to “mismanagement” by the Islamic Republic’s government and stated: “The Iranian regime blames external factors while in reality it is their mismanagement that has led to this catastrophe.”
Earlier, the US State Department had also tweeted expressing condolences to families of flood victims in Iran: “We are ready to help as always, just as we lead in such circumstances in other parts of the world.”
Nevertheless, officials of the Islamic Republic, particularly officials at Iran’s Foreign Ministry, speak of obstacles that the US has placed in the way of humanitarian aid entering this country. Mohammad Javad Zarif, Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic, called the US’s announcement of readiness to assist Iran’s flood victims through the International Red Cross and Red Crescent “fake news” on his Twitter page yesterday, Tuesday, and described the “real news” from his perspective as follows: “Based on statements by the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Iranian Red Crescent Society cannot receive any financial resources due to illegal US sanctions.”
Accusation of “Economic Terrorism” Against the US
The Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic also accused the United States again of “economic terrorism” and demanded that this country “take responsibility” for it. This is while American officials emphasize that this country’s sanctions have not targeted medicine, food, and humanitarian aid.
Hamid Baeidinejad, the Islamic Republic’s ambassador to Britain, also reacted to the recent statements by the US Secretary of State regarding “mismanagement” of Iran’s government concerning the floods and wrote: “This shameful statement is issued while the United States has been unable to find a solution for extensive flooding that has affected several major American states for a month.”
Hassan Rouhani also on Wednesday, April 3rd, before the remarks of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Leader of the Islamic Republic, in a meeting with a number of government officials and ambassadors of Islamic countries, repeated a similar theme and said: “America is still unable to compensate for flood damage from several months ago, but everyone will see that in beloved Iran, the people and officials together will rebuild the ruins.”
In recent days, a number of international organizations such as the United Nations and some countries including Germany, Britain, and Turkey have announced their readiness to assist Iran’s flood victims. According to Iranian media reports, Maria Viotti, Chief of Staff of the UN Secretary-General, in a phone call with Esmail Baghaei, who heads Iran’s permanent delegation to the international organization, conveyed the sympathy of UN Secretary-General António Guterres with “the government and people of Iran” regarding the recent floods. Ms. Viotti also emphasized the UN Secretary-General’s readiness for “any cooperation and assistance” from the organization. According to these media outlets, the Chief of Staff of the UN Secretary-General considered humanitarian aid exemption from any sanctions as “self-evident.”
Ugo Okuchi Daniels, representative of the UN “Development Programme” in Iran, also announced yesterday that the UN team has “closely” monitored the flood situation in Iran and, if the Iranian government makes a request, the team will provide necessary support to the government’s efforts. This UN official wrote in a Twitter message: “It is the duty of the United Nations to support the Iranian government, and from the beginning of this bitter crisis, that is exactly what we have been doing. Some relief items have been provided and we will continue to do so.”
Aid Shipments Sent
Michael Clor-Berchtold, German Ambassador in Tehran, also on Monday informed his official Twitter account of his country’s assistance to flood victims in Iran “in the form of 40 boats and safety equipment by the German Red Cross for the Iranian Red Crescent.” At the same time, the Al-Alam network reported that these equipment were set to enter Iran on April 4th and be handed over to the Iranian Red Crescent.
Simultaneously, the Islamic Republic’s ambassador to Britain also, while repeating Zarif’s statements about the role of US sanctions in preventing aid to Iran’s flood victims, wrote on his Twitter account on Monday: “The British Red Cross is fully ready, upon receiving a list of needed emergency aid items and flood management equipment from the Iranian Red Crescent, to immediately send the necessary items to Iran.”
Robert Macaire, British Ambassador in Tehran, was among the diplomats who had earlier expressed sympathy with Iran’s flood victims on Twitter: “I have been struck by the images and what I hear from Iranian friends about flooding in Iran.”
The Turkish Red Crescent Society also sent five trucks of humanitarian cargo including tents, sheets, blankets, kitchen utensils, and camping stoves to Iran, which entered the country through the Bazargan border last Sunday, and was scheduled to be handed over to the Red Crescent of Golestan Province once weather conditions improved.
Despite the US announcement of readiness to assist Iran’s flood victims and UN representatives’ emphasis on the “self-evident” nature of humanitarian aid exemption from sanctions, officials at the Islamic Republic’s Foreign Ministry have reported “blocked accounts of the Red Crescent.”
Bahram Qassemi, spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, also said yesterday: “Given the blocking of Red Crescent accounts, no foreign citizen or Iranian residing abroad can send aid to flood victims.”
Qassemi, like Zarif, cited US sanctions as an obstacle to aid for flood victims and said: “Relief organizations like the Red Cross and Red Crescent have stated in recent days that they cannot send their aid to the Red Crescent of the Islamic Republic, and it appears that the United States is seeking to prevent the sending of humanitarian aid to flood victims.”
Officials at the Islamic Republic’s Foreign Ministry spoke about the negative impact of US sanctions on aid to flood victims while Ishaq Jahangiri, First Vice President of the President of Iran, said on Monday: “A country that has this much wealth does not extend its hand to help.”
Floodwaters and severe rainfall in Iran, which according to Hassan Rouhani covered 25 provinces of the country with the beginning of the new Persian year (2019), caused thousands of billions of tomans in damages, and during it, according to the Legal Medicine Organization’s statistics, at least 62 people lost their lives.
Source: DW
